


Stranger On The Bus

by baeconandeggs, lordkrisdemort



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fantasy, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-19 03:04:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14865399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordkrisdemort/pseuds/lordkrisdemort
Summary: “If you get on the bus tomorrow morning and see him again, then it’s really your fate to talk to him.” It really is Chanyeol’s fate to talk to the cute stranger on the bus; except that he didn’t expect the stranger to tell him “you shouldn’t be able to see me.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #:** BAE309  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** To the prompter, I know this has deviated way too far from what you probably have imagined when you wrote the prompt. But hey, we still get fluffy!ChanBaek anyway, so yay! (Seriously I’m so sorry for ruining your prompt)
> 
>  **Additional Update:** On July 10th 2018; (1) It's now divided into four chapters, and (2) There are additional parts which are the entire second chapter and at the end of third and fourth chapter :)

_You're beautiful_

_You're beautiful_

_You're beautiful, it's true_


	2. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story isn’t supposed to make sense.
> 
> _  - author _

Chanyeol met Kyungsoo in a music exhibit when they were nineteen.

That day, Kyungsoo came with a friend, and he was waiting somewhere near the stage for the drinks the said friend were buying for the both of them. Kyungsoo was sitting alone, absentmindedly staring at the people around the room.

Chanyeol was sitting on the stage, a guitar heavy on his laps, panicking because his band was on the brink of falling to their doom since their vocalist, Jongdae, couldn’t make it to the exhibit. Then Chanyeol saw the bored looking Kyungsoo, and out of an impulse, he called the guy through rough whispering; _‘psst, psst!!_ ’

Kyungsoo turned at him and sent him a death glare.

And Chanyeol asked him, _“do you sing?”_

__

_ “… yes?” _

__

_ “My vocalist is having a high fever at home. I can’t even blame him if we fail to put on a show today.” _

__

_ “… and?” _

__

_ “Can you save us? There are only five songs. Please?” _

At first, Kyungsoo looked hesitant. Chanyeol ended up thinking that maybe he really had stepped too far with the guy. However Kyungsoo stood up from his seat and walked to the stage towards him. _“Let me look at them.”_

Kyungsoo sang three out of five songs they had on their list since he didn’t know the rest that well. Nonetheless, Kyungsoo saved the day; Chanyeol’s day. Everyone was satisfied with them.

_ “Can I treat you? Pick any restaurant you want. I really need to thank you properly!” _

Kyungsoo picked a Korean cuisine restaurant he loved so much. Their first official encounter was rather awkward. But the kind of awkwardness that caused a fluttering sensation inside Chanyeol’s stomach. Kyungsoo was delicate as much as he was firm. His eyes were beautiful, his heart shaped lips were pretty. His talking voice was like hot, thick chocolate dripping into his ears. Their music taste differed, but Kyungsoo took time to explain his preferences to him and listened to his explanation about the type of music he loved to make.

Chanyeol, gradually, fell in love.

Their pining days were filled with shy talks and ‘ _how about a dinner together?_ ’. A lot of testing the waters. Kyungsoo was kind and graceful. Chanyeol found himself wanting to be better, to be able to match Kyungsoo’s almost perfect self. He observed and took notes of what Kyungsoo liked and disliked. What could make Kyungsoo laugh and what could upset him. Kyungsoo’s laugh was so precious as much as it was rare. He wasn’t easy to please. But Chanyeol tried.

After a year of acquainting themselves, Chanyeol finally asked Kyungsoo to be his lover. Kyungsoo accepted him.

Kyungsoo, after being his lover, was sweet and caring. Their talks ranged from light ones to quite heavy ones, although most of the times Chanyeol chose to just listen instead of giving comments. He loved to hear Kyungsoo’s voice anyway. They planned their dates because Kyungsoo had his own established life as well. They reserved Saturdays for a day-long date.

Chanyeol was buys, but Kyungsoo was busier. Slowly, it became harder for them to make ends meet. Kyungsoo was doing so well in his job, while Chanyeol was on his way of achieving his dream work. But Chanyeol always took the initiative to look for Kyungsoo. After all, since the beginning, it was always Chanyeol who moved first, who looked for him first, who would talk first. He gave a huge portion of his heart for Kyungsoo just like that; because the love inside him was bursting out. He was young and full of love; not really a good combination.

He gave, and gave, and gave, without minding whether Kyungsoo gave back to him or not. He didn’t care. What mattered was that Kyungsoo was willing to accept it. 

However, when they were twenty-three, as natural as it could be, the downfall of their relationship came. The adult life was finally weighing down its toll on them, and they began to question everything they’ve done and planned. Was it right? Is this right? Will it be right? Everything became questionable, including the thing between them. One day, on the Ferris Wheel, Kyungsoo sat across him. He suggested that they put their relationship on a break. Everything was being too much to take for the both of them. Chanyeol, who never dared to upset Kyungsoo, just agreed. Anything to make Kyungsoo feel better.

Somewhere along the way, Kyungsoo said those hurtful words; how in the end, they couldn’t match each other. Chanyeol was too warm for someone who weren’t fond of warmth like Kyungsoo. Chanyeol always liked how honest Kyungsoo was as a person, but he thought he didn’t need honesty in that moment. He needed a second chance instead. But it seemed like Kyungsoo wasn’t even thinking of it. Kyungsoo seemed like someone who was finally able to get out of a situation he had always tried to break out from.

They went home by themselves after a faint ‘bye’.

Of course the break led to a permanent end. Chanyeol had known in from the look in Kyungsoo’s eyes when they were inside the cabin of the Ferris Wheel. It was a permanent end. Chanyeol locked himself inside his apartment for two weeks, living on instant noodles, store-bought fermented kimchi and milk cartons.

After that, he came back as a sadder version of himself. He picked up himself slowly, in baby steps, through writing sad songs and creating heart wrenching melodies. It took months, years, for him to finally be okay again.

It was probably bound to be. Maybe he had to go through that as a part of his life, of his story. Maybe he was meant to hurt before he heals. Maybe he needed to get through Kyungsoo first before finding the love that was really meant for him.

Twenty-three years old Chanyeol got by slowly, not knowing that in three years, a miracle would be awaiting him.

__


	3. You Must've Been an Angel

===

_ My life was a game of luck _

_ My love was a sad memory _

_ Then I saw an angel _

_ By that, I was suddenly not me _

===

“I’m awake. Chill. Seriously. My voice? It’s always been this hoarse, what do you expect? I’m wearing my fucking shoes – Jongdae,  _Jongdae_ , I’m all set! I’m opening the door now. You hear that sound? Now can you shut up? I’m on my way.”

Chanyeol sighs heavily once his friend finally hung up the call. Saturday is supposed to be his off day – it’s the ‘hangover’ day for him, considering he’s a dedicated Friday-night man – yet Jongdae just had the audacity to call him at six in the morning, telling him to go straight to their music studio because ‘ _I’ve finally finished the lyrics and it better gets its music arrangement as soon as possible before the melodies escape my head!_ ’. So there he is, Park Chanyeol, with dragged steps and heavy guitar on his back, one hand holding a lunch box while his other hand rubbing his sleepy eyes for the nth time. Thankfully he didn’t drink too much last night; usually he would be properly sober only by 12 pm.

He finally arrives at the bus stop near his apartment building. It’s already Spring, thus it’s supposed to be warmer these days, yet the morning air is still as cold as ever. He wraps his arms around himself, regretting not wearing a thicker coat –  _damn you, Jongdae_. His gaze wanders around the environment, finally accepting that he’s really out here at Saturday morning and is really waiting for the bus.

At the mention of the ‘bus’, a smile finally spreads on his lips.

_ Right, it’s  _ the _bus._

When the vehicle comes into his sight, the giddiness suddenly bursts inside his chest, successfully wiping away the sleepiness and mild annoyance he felt for his friend. At least he gets to ride the bus today. It’s a rare occasion.

He fixes his coat and fishes out his t-money card from the back pocket of his jeans before he climbs onto the gigantic vehicle, carefully not to hit his guitar against anything. He greets the driver with a smile as he swipes the card against the scanner. “Good morning, Mr. Jung!”

“Chanyeol.” the driver acknowledges. “It’s rare to see you on a Saturday.”

Chuckling, Chanyeol bows at the old man before he walks away to pick a seat. Getting on the early stops for the bus means he always has the chance to pick which seat he likes. However, ever since a month ago, he had marked one specific seat, which is at the very back of the bus. He’s been laughing at himself over the reason behind it, but he can’t help himself.

His reason sits at the same row, at the other corner of the seat.

As usual, the not-so-strange stranger is looking outside the window at the moment.

Chanyeol can’t fight back the smile on his face. He resorts in covering his face with the food box in his hand so he won’t have to embarrass himself just in case the stranger catches a sight of him. He places his guitar down and scoots to his usual corner, settling himself down.

The bus moves, and Chanyeol notices the stranger is quite taken aback. The stranger then chuckles at himself, cheeks blushing faintly, making Chanyeol’s smile bloom ear to ear.  _Why are you so cute… adorable… plain beautiful?_

He wants to slap himself for thinking so cornily.

Ever since last month, he started taking the bus to his workplace. At first, he was skeptical that he would be able to wake up at the exact same time every morning so he won’t have to miss the public transportation, having used to drive everywhere by himself. But after a week of bus ride, he saw the cute stranger at the back, and just like that he found his motivation in being punctual. Missing one or sometimes two hours of beauty sleep is worth the chance of being able to sit with the stranger, even if just for roughly twenty minutes.

He doesn’t know where the stranger goes to every morning. Probably to a workplace, or maybe university, since the stranger looks quite young. He wants to know so, so bad, yet he just can’t gather up the courage to talk to that guy. Park Chanyeol, a whole 6’1” giant, is scared to talk to the seemingly petite man who always looks so soft and warm.

_ Soft and warm – what the hell, Park Chanyeol? _

Everything about the stranger is just so adorable and heartwarming to Chanyeol. From the way he seems lost in thoughts as his gaze is directed towards the windows, to the way he glances around to look at other passengers in front of him - and the way he chuckles along when he overhears some amusing conversations. The stranger once took a look at him, which Chanyeol hopes he had successfully acted oblivious of. And that was it. That was the only form of interaction they ever had.

Chanyeol sighs, staring down at his food box. He opens it and takes out half of the ham sandwich, stomach growling faintly. He was about to take a bite when from the corner of his eyes, he catches the sight of the stranger eyeing his food with unreadable emotion on his face.

_ Does he want it?  _ Chanyeol asks in panic inside his head.  _Should I give it to him if he asks? Should I offer this to him? Should I just disappear into foams? What the hell should I do?!?!_

But his questions go to waste because the stranger finally looks away. Chanyeol is too afraid to face the stranger completely because he wants to avoid the possible awkward encounter.

So he decides to stay quiet and start eating his sandwich, hoping that the chewing sound he makes isn’t too loud to annoy his favorite stranger.

The bus ride goes as usual, except that Chanyeol finally realizes he should’ve brought a bottle of water with him.

=

By 1 pm, Chanyeol actually finishes the rough instrumental for Jongdae’s song. Working like a machine always does it for him. With a satisfied smile, Jongdae pulls Chanyeol down for a hug - he literally has to pull Chanyeol down because of their noticeable height difference.

“I knew I can count on you.” Jongdae gushes once they part. “You’re the guy. ‘Loey’ the mighty. SM Entertainment’s Black Horse. South Korea’s rising composer. You’re going to make so much money for the company; they’re going to love you so, so much!”

Chanyeol blinks. “That sounds… horrible. But thanks. Now can we please go out for lunch? I’m dying.”

“Shush, you.” Jongdae waves his hand at him nonchalantly. “Chill. I’ll treat you anything you want to eat today.”

His ears perk up at the word ‘treat’. “Anything?”

“Anything.” Jongdae winks. “I’ve taken your bedtime away from you anyway.”

“Good thing you know.” Chanyeol rolls his eyes, already packing up his stuffs. “Should we ask others to join us?”

Jongdae nods. “Cool for me. Get Jongin and Sehun out of the practice room before they waste away there.”

They end up having lunch at a fancy Japanese restaurant. Jongin has been craving for sushi, Jongdae wanted his curry udon, while Sehun didn’t even bat an eye at the menu; his large sized cheese pizza is waiting for him at home.

Chanyeol gulps in hunger when his beef donburi arrives in front of him. “Oh God,” he immediately grabs the spoon next to the bowl, “I can actually eat a cow right now.”

Jongin cracks up in laughter. “Jongdae locked you in his dungeon since this morning, huh?”

“This one is a genius.” Jongdae points at Chanyeol with his chopsticks. “Everything he did just clicked with my wants and vision! I didn’t even have to explain myself, he just, like, got it right away!”

“Hey, Chanyeol, how about the song you’ve been writing for the past couple of weeks?” Sehun adds in after he took a sip of his warm  _ocha_.

Jongdae turns at Chanyeol. “You’ve been writing a song? Should I help you?”

“Is it a rap song? Is it a sappy shit? Romance? Bro-mance?” Jongin butts in.

“It’s about that guy he always sees on the bus every morning.” Sehun grins. “We call him ‘ _the stranger on the bus’_.”

Chanyeol sighs. “Shut up.”

“Gosh, right! You haven’t updated me about that guy.” Jongdae drops his chopsticks and faces Chanyeol completely. “How’s the cute stranger doing? Still out of your reach?”

At the mention of  _the cute stranger_ , Chanyeol drops his spoon and stares far into the distance. “He looked at my sandwich this morning.”

Jongin blinks, confused. “Your sandwich?”

“Yeah. I brought my breakfast to the bus because this dipshit here,” Chanyeol points at the giggling Jongdae, “kept calling me and demanded me to get to the studio as fast as I could. So yeah, I ate at the bus, and he looked at my sandwich.” Chanyeol then turns at his friends. “I should’ve given him some, shouldn’t I? It would’ve been my chance to talk to him. I know. I’m an idiot. A sad, pathetic idiot.”

Jongin laughs in amusement. “No one’s calling you an idiot, Chanyeol.”

“Me!” Sehun raises his hand. “I’m calling you an idiot!”

“Not everyone is a smooth talker like you are, Oh Sehun.”

“I don’t know about that stranger but if I was him, though,” Jongdae gets back to his udon, “I probably would’ve taken that sandwich with a grateful heart. Food brings people together. Sharing is caring!”

While Jongin and Sehun are laughing at Jongdae, Chanyeol swallows in the words.  _Sharing is caring. Sharing is caring! I should share my food with him because I care about him!_

_ Do I care about him? _

“Don’t you think you should at least try to talk to him?” Jongin looks at him. “I mean, come on, what’s there to lose?”

“You’ve never really dated anyone ever since Ky – I mean, ever since, like, three years ago. Wow, it has been that long, huh?” Sehun sips on his  _ocha_  again, obviously acting like he doesn’t notice the daggers Jongin are throwing at him through his gaze. “You’ve been a devoted Friday night guy but it hasn’t done anything good to you so far.”

“Dude, you’ve written like at least a hundred songs and the majority of them are sad.” Jongdae comments. “Maybe you should try it with that stranger and, you know, do a change. Write a bubblier shit.”

Chanyeol laughs. “My songs aren’t that sad.”

“Yeah they’re either about finding someone, subtly hinting about you getting that good good with someone, or being left by someone. Gosh,” Jongin cringes, “you really should try it with the stranger on the bus.”

“Does he always take the same bus every morning? You always see him from Monday to Friday, and you saw him today as well, which is Saturday. What about Sunday?”

Jongin claps his hands. “Take the bus tomorrow!”

“Wow, you guys are so excited.” Jongdae chuckles.

“No. I’m going to sleep until noon.”

“It’s for a better love life! Do it for the better love life!”

“Hey, let’s just think of it like this; if you get on the bus tomorrow morning and see him again, then it’s really your fate to talk to him.”

Chanyeol stares down at his half-finished food. “If I see him tomorrow, then it’s my fate to talk to him.”

“Talk to him, make it work,” Sehun smirks, “put a happy twist on your song.”

===

_ He smiled at the skies _

_ Through the window on the bus _

_ I’ve lost sleep to see him _

_ Yet never did I know his name _

===

Chanyeol finds himself at the bus stop on Sunday morning, a hand holding a lunch box filled with sandwich.

He feels like an idiot. He never expected himself to go this far just to get the chance to talk to his crush. But to think again, he never used a month worth of chance he had anyway. Maybe it’s really his time to step up. Put his past right where it belongs; the past. He can’t be bitter and pessimistic forever, can he?

He sighs when his mind involuntarily recalls  _that_  person.

The bus arrives. Calming down his heart, he climbs up the stairs and immediately searches for the stranger at the back. He gulps, and his heart gets back to hammering against his ribcage.

The stranger is there, again. On the usual spot.

_ Shit _ , he swipes his card against the scanner,  _shit, shit shit_.

He claims his usual spot, across the stranger, settling himself awkwardly next to the window, hands wrapping nervously around the box. He glances at the cute stranger who is nodding softly to the beat of the song he’s listening to through the white earphones attached into his ears. How should he start it? ‘ _Hey, you want some?_ ’, sounds like he’s offering the stranger a pack of drugs. ‘ _This is delicious, try it!_ ’ sounds like he’s trying to poison him. ‘ _This is for you._ ’ sounds like he’s giving food to a homeless man.

Why didn’t he ask for Sehun’s advice first before doing this? He can hear Sehun’s mocking laughter in the back of his mind.  _Hahaha, idiot._

Fifteen minutes into the ride, Chanyeol thinks that maybe his chance is not today. He’d rather wait a little more than to embarrass himself. He sighs heavily as he closes the lid of the box. Maybe he can just give the sandwich to Jongin and Jongdae; it tastes better than the one their office’s cafeteria serves anyway.

However, from the corner of his eyes, he sees the stranger staring at his food box, a hand holding the right end of his earphone. The stranger is not even trying to be secretive; he’s blatantly staring, not even noticing that the owner of the food box is looking back at him.

_ Dear God Almighty,  _ Chanyeol holds a gasp,  _is this really my time? Is this really my fate?_

Finally, a boost of courage is pumped up into his veins.

“Y-you,” Chanyeol coughs, catching the stranger’s attention, and he tries not to choke on his own saliva because  _wow, whoa, a pair of beautiful brown eyes, whoa,_  “do you want… to bite?”

The stranger blinks at him.

He screams internally.  _What the fucking fuck Park Chanyeol???????_

“I mean- I mean, do you want a bite?” Chanyeol can feel his cheeks burning but he continues his blabbers since he’s already too deep into the mud. “No- not just a bite- I mean- shit- do you want some? I- it’s cut in half so you don’t have to eat the entire thing right away- but you can have the other half too if you want-”

The stranger’s head tilts sideways slightly, appearing confused at him - or because of him.

Chanyeol prevents himself from sighing too heavily in front of his cute crush.  _Damn you, Park Chanyeol. At this rate, only ferrets would want you_.

“I’m…” he speaks up again dejectedly, not meeting the stranger’s gaze, “I’m sorry. I must’ve annoyed you. Have a great day.”

The next bus stop is already visible. He’s relieved that he’s going to get off soon. He doesn’t want to experience more embarrassment. Maybe once he gets home he can ask Jongdae to pick him up and drive him to the office every morning starting from tomorrow. Or maybe he doesn’t have to go to the office anymore. Eternal break seems nice. He’ll just go to the countryside, buy a farm and start farming-

“Excuse me…”

_ Yes you are excused, you adorable stranger- wait- what? _  Chanyeol turns to his side almost too quickly, and he finds the stranger looking at him with disbelief on his face.

“... yes?” Chanyeol answers carefully. Somehow, they’re whispering.

“You…” the stranger mumbles, seemingly unsure of what to say, “I’m sorry but you- you…”

Chanyeol nods to encourage the stranger to keep talking.

“... you can see me?”

Chanyeol blinks.  _What kind of question is that?_  “Of… course?

The stranger keeps staring at him as if he’s some kind of alien, as if him having eyes that can see perfectly is weird. Or does the stranger  _not_  want to be seen? What is happening?

“Are you really seeing me?” the stranger asks again.

“Yes, I am.” Chanyeol answers directly.

It doesn’t help Chanyeol to understand what is going on that the stranger is staring at him as if he’s one of world’s wonders. “Whoa,” an awed gasp escapes the stranger’s thin, cherry lips, “of course. Of course. Fascinating, really.”

Chanyeol glances around out of nervousness. “What is?”

The stranger points at him. “You,” then he points at himself, “seeing me.”

“Why is it fascinating?” Chanyeol frowns. The bus comes to a halt. He’s supposed to get off.

“Because, Yoda,” the stranger calls him with a very familiar name; the one he got teased with by his friends for so many years due to his prominent large ears, “you shouldn’t be able to see me. In fact, you’re the only one who can see me!”

Chanyeol leans backward. What is this strange stranger talking about? “Uh, sorry but, I thought you said I’m the only one who can see you.”

“You heard right!” the stranger, who was skeptical and confused a few seconds ago, is now excited and grinning and Chanyeol wishes he’d stop grinning because it’s doing things to the heart inside his ribcage. “Well, technically not just you, because my friends can see me but yeah, you’re the only human who can. Bizarre, isn’t it?”

_ I’m the only human who can  _ what _?_

“Aren’t you getting off, young man?” the driver shouts from the front. It’s not Mr. Jung, Chanyeol notices.

“Yes.” he replies before he stands up and turns to the stranger again. “Sorry, I have to go.”

“Wait,” the guy stands up along, shoves something into the pocket of his jeans and smoothens his baby blue coat, “let me come with you!”

Chanyeol is really taken aback because his crush is actually asking for his permission to walk together with him – was he really asking for his permission? “I… uh… okay?”

They both walk to the exit, and Chanyeol was about to step outside when the driver calls for him.

“Whatever you’re going through, child,” the man tells him with a sincerely worried look on his face, “please never give up! Seek some help and get better!”

Chanyeol frowns at the driver, wondering what on earth was the man talking about, before he awkwardly bows at him. The stranger giggles and bows at the man as well. “Good bye, Mr. Yoon! You’re such a nice man; no wonder why you have a long life!”

_ What the- _  Chanyeol waits for the driver to say something at the stranger. But the said Mr. Yoon keeps his eyes on him instead.

“T-thanks.” he finally says before he rushes down. The stranger follows him, laughing cheerily. If he wasn’t in such weird situation Chanyeol would’ve melted on the pavement right away because of that warm, honey-like sound.

“This is really, really interesting!” the stranger chirps. “I’m Baekhyun, and I’m so happy you can see me!!”

“Are you supposed to be invisible?” Chanyeol asks flatly, nervously, because he didn’t expect his stranger crush to be this… strange. “You have superpowers or something? Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak?”

_ Wait _ , he suddenly stops on his track,  _did I just… get his name??_ He hears the bus starting to drive away, and he whips around in an instant. He forgot to bring his food box along. _My… my sandwich –_

“Oh,” the Baekhyun guy mumbles.

He turns around to look at the guy. “Oh?”

“of course,” Baekhyun says quietly, more to himself, “of course. You… you think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

Chanyeol panics again, afraid that he might have just offended the guy. “No, I don’t, I’m sorry if it appears to be like that. But I have to admit you’re being very… weird right now.”

There’s a pause before Baekhyun speaks again. “But Chanyeol, what are you doing outside your home? Don’t you usually sleep until noon on Sundays?”

_ My friends told me to see you again – wait, what? _  “Wow wait,” Chanyeol steps backwards, “how the fuck do you know my name? And what I do every Sunday – who – who are  _you_?”

Baekhyun blinks before he turns around. “Dammit.” He whispers, audible enough for Chanyeol. He then turns back again to face Chanyeol. “Okay. Well, Chanyeol, first thing first, no need to be scared of me, okay?”

“I’m very  _very_ creeped out right now!”

“Okay just, please listen first. The thing is, I’m not a creep.” Baekhyun says as he walks towards him, closing the gap between them. “I’m actually…”

Chanyeol waits nervously.

Baekhyun smiles.

“your guardian angel!”

===

_ You’re beautiful _

_ You’re beautiful _

_ You’re beautiful, it’s true _

===

Chanyeol holds his head with his both hands. “You –  _what –_ “

He watches as Baekhyun looks over his shoes, somehow looking small out of sudden. “Please don’t be afraid of me.”

“You – “ Chanyeol sucks a breath, trying to clear the lump in his throat because  _what the hell did he just say?_  “You’re my  _what_?”

Baekhyun sighs. “Your guardian angel, Chanyeol.”

“You better stop messing up with me.” Chanyeol points at the guy. “This is  _not_  nice, not at all –“

“You can’t handle this, huh?” Baekhyun says instead. “Okay then. Sorry. Let’s just say that I got your name by eavesdropping when you talked with the other bus driver.”

Chanyeol blinks at him, baffled. “Then what about ‘you usually sleep until noon on Sundays’?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “You look like someone who does that.” He then offers Chanyeol a smile. An actually warm one. “Good luck, Chanyeol. You might want to be more careful from now on. Luck won’t be by your side forever, after all.”

Leaning back, Chanyeol frowns at the guy. “What do you mean?”

His question ends up not getting answered because Baekhyun just smiles at him more, before he starts to turn around, seemingly leaving. Chanyeol wants to prevent the guy from doing so, but he hesitates in the end. The guy messed up with him that far and now he’s leaving?

However, he notices that someone was walking towards Baekhyun, and it’s clear that neither the person or Baekhyun see each other. “Hey, watch –“

He holds his breath when the person walks through Baekhyun.  _Literally_  through Baekhyun’s body.

He watches as Baekhyun lurches down, looking like he’s in pain.

As Baekhyun falls on his knees on the pavement, Chanyeol’s legs move automatically, rushing to him. He gets down to check on the breathless Baekhyun. “You – what happened – you okay?”

Baekhyun looks up at him, face still pained, yet a small smile spreads on the thin lips. “Did that man look back at me?”

Chanyeol glances at the person who had walked through Baekhyun earlier; the man is walking away further. “I don’t think so.” He says as he turns back at Baekhyun. “What was that?”

“Good.” Baekhyun sighs in relief. “I can’t… get in physical contact with humans.”

Chanyeol thinks back to what he had just witnessed with his own eyes.

Someone literally walked  _through_  Baekhyun, as if Baekhyun was some kind of a hologram.

When he looks into Baekhyun’s eyes again, they’re glistening. “Can’t you believe,” he whispers, “that I’ve been your guardian angel?”

Chanyeol can only stare back.

=

“Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.”

“Can you stop doing that – “

“Don’t panic again, okay? It’s just me, hey, your guardian angel. You’ve seen this thing in movies for lots of times, right? It shouldn’t surprise you this much.”

“You have  _zero_  right to tell me to calm down!”

Baekhyun laughs wholeheartedly. They’re sitting on the bench at a secluded park near the bus stop. Maybe it was clear that Chanyeol was having a hard time dealing with Baekhyun’s words, thus Baekhyun has been doing all he can to ease him. Not that any of Baekhyun’s attempt is working anyway.

Chanyeol was still skeptical about everything even after what happened to Baekhyun earlier. However, on their way to the park, things only got realer for him. No one, literally  _no one_ , could see Baekhyun. The guy really was invisible. There were a few times that Baekhyun intentionally said ‘hi’ to someone who was passing him by – mostly just to mock Chanyeol – and the person didn’t even bat an eye at him. A prank couldn’t go that far, right?

Baekhyun really is something else.

“Okay.” Chanyeol breathes out. “Okay. If you’re really my guardian angel, then you have to answer a few questions to prove it.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun snorts, “as expected.”

Chanyeol narrows his eyes at the guy – his guardian angel? – before he starts. “Where was I yesterday?”

“Your office, of course. Although I wondered why you would go to your office on your off day.”

“You –“ Chanyeol gulps. “Well. What’s my favorite food?”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at him. “Do you even have one? You can’t even decide what to eat for dinner under five minutes.”

Chanyeol blinks at him. “Well… you’re right.”

“But you like sweets, that’s for sure.” Baekhyun smiles at him. “Next!”

“What’s my phone number?”

“… I’m your guardian angel, not a stalker. Do you think being your guardian angel means I know everything about you?”

“Well, don’t you?”

Baekhyun stares at him calmly, before he shifts his gaze away. “I know a lot about you, but not everything.”

Chanyeol feels some sort of heavy feeling in his chest, looking at the suddenly melancholic Baekhyun. “How long have you been my guardian angel?”

Baekhyun hangs his head low. There’s a long moment of silence between them. It’s like Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say, or maybe he doesn’t know how to say what he wants to.

In the end, Baekhyun looks up again, although not at him. “Long enough to know you injured your right knee pretty bad at your last day of elementary school.”

Holding back a gasp, Chanyeol shifts on his spot on the bench. “Let me rephrase it. _Since when_ did you become my guardian angel? Since I was born?”

Baekhyun shakes his head slowly. “Since the day your mother passed away.”

Chanyeol freezes at the sentence. His mother had died a long time ago. “Eighteen years.” He states. “You’ve been my guardian angel for eighteen years.”

Nodding slowly, Baekhyun turns at him again. “Yeah. I guess it’s been that long.”

“Does you, being my guardian angel, has something to do with my mom’s death?” Chanyeol grows more curious when Baekhyun’s face pales for a moment. “I mean, were you sent to protect me because she died?”

Baekhyun takes his time to think, again. “I don’t know.” He answers in the end. “All I remember was that I was sent here to guard you. Never asked why.”

“Guard me from what?”

“Little things that can make your day less great.” Baekhyun offers him a smile. “Easy. Don’t start thinking you’re a lost God who needs to be protected because another God is searching for you to kill you.”

“That’s – that was from a movie, wasn’t it?”

Baekhyun smirks. “The one you bawled your eyes out for. Oh yes I remember.”

Chanyeol hisses at the laughing Baekhyun before he settles himself on the bench more comfortably. “How come I only get to see you now?”

“Honestly? I don’t know as well.” Baekhyun answers, and finally it sounds genuine coming from his lips. “All I know is that I shouldn’t question it too much when a miracle happens; wouldn’t want to jinx it.”

The words settle down onto Chanyeol’s head. It makes him rethinks of what he had done earlier. Could it be that it’s a miracle that he actually has a guardian angel, and that he gets to see him? And should he be more grateful about it?

Not to mention that he’s technically crushing on his guardian angel.

“Are you not going to ask me have I ever seen you naked or not?”

“… you  _what_ –“

===

_ I saw your face _

_ Under the light of the day _

_ And I knew no better, but _

_ I just wanted to be with you _

===

“So all you did was follow me around?”

Baekhyun, once again, dwells in silence first. It’s like he’s thinking about the right words to answer, being careful not to say something that Chanyeol could misinterpret. “Yes. No. Both.” He laughs softly. “I usually have some errands to do. Whenever I’m free, I’ll check on you. Maybe save you from tripping on your own shoe. You know you’re quite sloppy, right?”

Feeling heat suddenly spreads on both of his cheeks, Chanyeol coughs the shyness away. They’re walking along the sideroad, a block away from the park. Spring is already somewhere along its peak, and Chanyeol feels warmth seeping into him as he observes the trees lined neatly along the street. Such a beautiful view, perfect to be enjoyed with a slow walk.

And then there’s an equally beautiful person walking right next to him.

He shakes his head, quite violently, to shrug the thoughts away. “What kind of errands?” he asks.

“Just… some errands.” Baekhyun looks up at him to give him a wide smile. “Some errands guardian angels do. Anyway, why are you out on Sunday?”

Chanyeol wants to answer, but then he’s reminded the actual reason he sacrificed his Sunday bed time.  _I was going to ask you out_. Chanyeol moans in distress.  _Look at us now_. “I, uh,” he mumbles, “well, I was just going to enjoy today. I mean, it’s Spring, and everything’s pretty, and… yeah. Wait, you said you usually follow me around, right?”

Baekhyun nods hesitatingly. “Uh-huh?”

“Then how come I only see you at the bus?” he asks, genuinely curious. “Shouldn’t have I seen you elsewhere?”

When Baekhyun halts his step, the curiosity Chanyeol feels only grows bigger. He watches the self-claimed guardian angel sighs for a few times before finally answering him. “Something… happened.” Baekhyun musters up a smile at him.

Chanyeol frowns at him, confused.

“Okay, hear me out.” Baekhyun exhales. “Seven weeks ago, I was told that I was dismissed from my job. As your guardian angel.”

_ What? _  “What…?”

Baekhyun nods. “Yeah, apparently, you don’t need one anymore. That, um… usually happens after humans turn twenty-five years old. You just turned twenty-five last November, right?”

Chanyeol feels something drops inside him. “You’re… not my guardian angel anymore?”

“Yes.” Baekhyun smiles apologetically at him. “But as you know, I’ve been guarding you for eighteen years. There was no way I could immediately leave you. I asked for more time, and they gave me seven weeks. Forty-nine days. And I was forbidden to tail behind you from then. So all I could do was to get on the bus you take every morning and, yeah, might have spied on you from a distance at some days.”

“Wait, that was seven weeks ago, and they gave you seven weeks too, does that mean –“

“It’s my last day here.” Baekhyun finished the sentence. “It’s my last day to see you.”

The sinking feelings grows heavier inside him. Chanyeol stares back at Baekhyun. “But I just met you.”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun grins. “Not really the right time, huh? It’s my fault, though. If only I had known you could see me way before this, I would’ve talked to you.”

“Or if I’ve been brave enough to talk to you,” Chanyeol says weakly, “we could’ve done so many things together.”

Baekhyun closes their distance. “I was forbidden to be around you, remember?” he laughs. “It’s actually the right timing, to think again. I can spend the day with you without having to get scolded again. A perfect way to use my last day, right?”

Chanyeol hangs his head low, looking down over the pavement.

“I’m sorry that our first meeting started quite rough and sad like this,” Baekhyun coaxes, “but let’s not waste today being emotional, okay?”

_ For all we know, it could be you who is the sadder one between us. _  Chanyeol looks up again to meet Baekhyun’s gaze. “What do you want to do, then?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “Anything? As long as we do it together.”

Somehow warmth fills Chanyeol’s chest again because of the sentence, but he can’t help but feeling mellow as well. “Damn.” He sighs.

“Yeah, damn.” Baekhyun giggles. “Take me anywhere, Chanyeol. Anywhere is cool with me. Just, well, maybe not in a crowded place.”

“Why?”

Baekhyun smirks. “Would you want people to think you’re crazy? Talking with yourself.”

“Hm.” Chanyeol tilts his head. “Do we have to talk, though?”

“Don’t you want to talk to me?”

“I mean, um, let me think of it for a moment.” Chanyeol bites his lips. “Maybe I can pretend to talk on my phone?”

“Good idea.” Baekhyun laughs. “And yeah, maybe I can talk to you and you can try not to react to it.”

“Or maybe I can actually afford looking crazy for a day.” Chanyeol says. “It’s your last day, anyway.”

Baekhyun looks quite taken aback by his words. “Wow,” his formerly guardian angel whispers with a smile, “and to think you just knew me this morning.”

“Not really. I’ve known you for a month. Or not. More like I’ve been seeing you for a month.” Chanyeol smiles back.

“Can you keep up with me?” Baekhyun grins as he starts to walk away. “I’ve known you for almost your entire life.”

Chanyeol can’t think of anything to say to that.

=

Their first stop is the café Chanyeol usually gets his morning coffee from.

They choose the table for two at the corner of the room, a pretty much secluded area in the building. He can be less guarded without possibly prying eyes. Baekhyun pulls a chair and settles himself down while Chanyeol mirrors him.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to order that tragic americano again.” Baekhyun sighs.

Chanyeol leans back, quite surprised, still not used to Baekhyun knowing things about him. But this time, it actually feels nice that someone really knows him. “Should I go for something sweet today?” he says quietly.

Baekhyun nods with a grin.

“Do you want something too?”

“… I don’t eat, kiddo.”

Chanyeol frowns. “Kiddo, huh.”

“You’re forever a child in my eyes.” Baekhyun waves his hand at him. “Go order your drink.”

Minutes later, Chanyeol returns with a large cup of caramel macchiato and a plate of chocolate cookies. “My beautiful brunch.” Chanyeol says dreamily.

Baekhyun giggles. “You and your sweet tooth.”

Chanyeol replies with a grin before he takes a sip of his drink. “This is really good indeed.” Chanyeol gushes.

“How’s your dad?” Baekhyun asks.

“He’s in Tokyo.” Chanyeol grabs a cookie. “His current project has been quite tricky, he said. He’s been very focused on it. He’s alright, though. He loves Japan.”

“He’s always been a busy man.” Baekhyun comments.

Chanyeol nods. “Sometimes I think he doesn’t like staying home. He always says he misses me but he rarely stays in Seoul for more than a month.”

Baekhyun shifts his gaze away, seemingly observing the room. “There were times I thought he couldn’t bear staying at your house.”

“Why is that?”

“He missed your mom.” Baekhyun says quietly. “He never stopped missing her.”

Chanyeol puts the cookie back on the plate. “How could you tell?”

Not really answering to the question, Baekhyun turns back at him with a smile. “Eat your cookies.” He says. “Sorry that I brought that up. This day should be fun, right?”

“Agree. Let’s talk about something else.” Chanyeol leans back against his chair. “So, what did you usually do whenever you were with me?”

Baekhyun laughs. “Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I do!”

“Are you really ready, though?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, smirking. “What if you get creeped out and start thinking back about your entire life and suddenly have existential crisis?”

Chanyeol blinks at him in horror. “Is it that bad?”

“Gosh you’re so gullible.” Baekhyun giggles. “Let me tell you about that one time when you almost couldn’t finish your math homework.”

The morning goes with Baekhyun reminding him of things he once did and then revealing that he had taken a part in them. At first, Chanyeol wasn’t sure what to feel. To conclude everything, all the events he had considered as luck was all Baekhyun’s doings. From things like subtly reminding him to check on the front door to things like guiding him to a safer path home, Baekhyun has been behind him throughout the years. Baekhyun was there when he had cried himself to sleep because his father forgot his birthday. Baekhyun was there when he jumped around the living room that day when he got an email of acceptance from the entertainment company he works at now. Baekhyun was there when he wrote sad songs for his ex-lover. Baekhyun was there when his friends had pulled him out of his apartment because he had locked himself inside for almost a week due to severe heart break. Baekhyun was there, more than a month ago, when a car almost ran him over, surviving by a thin thread.

And when Baekhyun tells him that he should stop talking because it would take more than a day to talk about the things he remembers about him, Chanyeol finally sees it.

Baekhyun has been very loyal to him, caring for him more than what his job required him.

Baekhyun really was his guardian angel.

“But you see,” Baekhyun adds after the short pause they took, “as much as I’ve seen lots of your sides, I still don’t know you as a person.”

Chanyeol looks up from his empty cup to Baekhyun. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun sighs softly. “I mean, well, I can only guess. I never talked to you anyway, which means I never got the chance to hear your opinions about what I said, or a glimpse of the way you think. Communication is the vital tool to understand someone’s mind, right?”

“Then,” Chanyeol murmurs, “what do you know about me so far?”

For a moment, Baekhyun stares at him calmly, seemingly thinking of the correct words to say again. “To me,” Baekhyun smalls lightly, “you’re kind.”

Chanyeol blinks. “That’s all?”

“Well,” Baekhyun pouts his lips, “you’re kind to people around you, that’s for sure, but what impressed me was that you’re also kind to yourself. And it’s difficult for someone to be kind to themselves.”

He doesn’t really get what Baekhyun means, but he decides not to push it further because he’s afraid it would end up creating a melancholic atmosphere around them. “Okay. That’s good enough for me.” Chanyeol smiles. “Let’s go.”

Baekhyun follows him when he stands up. “Where are we going?”

Chanyeol grins. “My favorite place.”

“Oh goodness, it’s your bedroom, isn’t it?”

“ _Aside_  of my bedroom.”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. “I doubt.”

===

_ Yes, he caught my eye _

_ As we walked on by _

_ He couldn’t see from my face, but I was _

_ falling down _

===

Baekhyun lets out the heaviest sigh ever. “Of course it’s this place. Of course.”

Chanyeol smirks. “Welcome to my lair.”

They’re inside his private studio; a joined two rooms at the corner of the hall on the fifth floor of the office building. The room is filled with equipment Chanyeol needs for composing songs. There’s a black leather sofa near the door, and that’s where a guitar rests.

“You never brought this one home.” Baekhyun touches the strings, creating faint echoes of melodies. “You only carry Matilda around.”

Chanyeol cracks up a laugh at the mention of the nickname he gave his favorite guitar years ago. “I and Matilda have a history. This one here is Mojo. He’s more like my office mate, which is why I don’t bring him home.”

“Hey, remember when you cried at that corner because seven out of ten songs you suggested at the board were rejected?” Baekhyun smiles at him mischievously.

“Can you  _not_  remind me of that? That was the worst.” Chanyeol groans. “That day I swore not to be overconfident again.”

“You were too confident your songs were great?” Baekhyun asks.

Chanyeol shakes his head. “My songs were great indeed. I was just too confident the board would like it.”

“As expected from the hit composer Loey.” Baekhyun teases. He spins around slowly, observing the room. “You love this career so much, I see.”

“I do.” Chanyeol adds firmly. “It’s what love and what I’m good at.”

Baekhyun turns at him again, giving him a warm smile. “You’re sure of what you want. That’s one of your best traits.”

Chanyeol blinks, feeling heat spreads on his cheeks again. “T-thanks.”

The smile fades a little as Baekhyun settles down on the couch, bouncing while doing so. Chanyeol takes the seat near the keyboard. For a while, they just enjoy the comfortable silence, basking in each other’s presence. Somewhere along the minutes, their gazes meet, and maybe it’s because of the rush and excitement inside his head that Baekhyun starts to look like his long-time best friend. Like Baekhyun is the most familiar person to him in the world.

Like Baekhyun is a person from home.

_ You were a stranger to me this morning _ . Chanyeol tries not to smile; he’s scared to break the magic between them.  _Now you’re the one who knows about me the most._

The silence ends when Baekhyun asks him to play a song on the keyboard. Chanyeol immediately turns the keyboard on and starts to stretch his fingers on the keys. Baekhyun mentions a title of a song he used to like so much back in high school, and it only proves to Chanyeol that not only Baekhyun knows him the best; he cares for what he knows and remembers it.

“But uh,” Chanyeol pauses his fingers, “you know I don’t sing, right?”

“But your voice is nice, though?” Baekhyun stands up from the couch, walking towards the chair next to the keyboard. “You can’t really deny it. I’ve heard it for too many times already.”

Chanyeol scratches the back of his head out of habit, a small smile breaking out on his lips. “Can’t you sing it instead? Do you memorize the lyrics?”

“I actually do.” Baekhyun chuckles. “You used to like it so much and played it on the speakers in your bedroom every day. I ended up memorizing the whole song.”

“Well then,” Chanyeol positions his fingers on the keys again, “let’s hear you.”

With that, they start their jam session, singing out Chanyeol’s favorite songs which Baekhyun had learnt.

=

For his late lunch, Chanyeol brings Baekhyun to the pizza restaurant near the office.

“I knew it.” Baekhyun lets out an exasperated sigh. “I just knew it.”

Chanyeol grins, guiding them to a quieter area of the room at the corner. “I’ll eat healthier food tomorrow.” He whispers.

Baekhyun laughs flatly. “You mean instant noodle and kimchi?”

“Whoa, you really know me so well.”

The pizza arrives around fifteen minutes later. Chanyeol immediately grabs a slice and he catches the sight of Baekhyun smirking at him. “What?” he frowns.

“Nothing.” Baekhyun answers. “Enjoy your food.”

“I can’t enjoy it if you’re looking at me like that.”

“Really? Even if it’s pizza?”

“Come on, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing! Just eat!”

“Don’t smirk at me like that. It makes me feel things.”

“Oh?” Baekhyun’s smirk curls more. “What kind of things?”

Chanyeol blinks at Baekhyun, nervousness suddenly bubbling up his system, before he finally turns at his slice of pizza and takes a bite.

Baekhyun laughs wholeheartedly, hands clapping like he intentionally teased Chanyeol to see how far he can stand him. “You’re so adorable.” Baekhyun breathes out between his laughter.

_ No,  _ you  _are adorable._  Chanyeol munches on his pizza.  _Stop laughing. I don’t think I can handle that adorable look on your face any more._

Time flows fairly slow for the both of them, as Chanyeol gets on his second slice and Baekhyun starts to comment on the other guests in the room. He listens to Baekhyun analyzing about things like ‘ _why do you think that lady came alone?_ ’ ‘ _tables of groups are always loud, aren’t they?’_  and tries his best to answer Baekhyun’s random questions. He realizes that Baekhyun is quite insightful about people and their nature for someone who claimed to have followed only one human around. It’s either that Baekhyun’s existence didn’t spin around him only, or Baekhyun just thinks too far.

Whatever it is, Chanyeol likes it. He likes listening to Baekhyun’s soft, honey-like voice. He likes the way Baekhyun’s lips pout unintentionally while he talks. He likes how engrossed Baekhyun looks with what he does. He likes the light twinkling in Baekhyun’s curious eyes. He likes how humane Baekhyun appears to be.

It makes him think that Baekhyun is completely human, a person, someone he can reach.

“Is there something on my face?”

Chanyeol blinks, and his daydream leaves him. His sight focuses back on Baekhyun, who’s looking back at him, confused.

“Huh?” he mumbles. “No? No.”

“You zoned out.” Baekhyun narrows his eyes at him. “Rare.”

“Sorry.” He grins sheepishly. “Ah, I’m on my fifth slice already.”

Baekhyun clicks his tongue in disbelief. “Are you going to finish all of them?”

“Of course!” Chanyeol takes another bite of his pizza.

Chuckling, Baekhyun leans against his chair, eyes still on Chanyeol. “You eat well.” He says. “Another one of your best traits.”

“Can it be considered as a good trait?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “I guess?”

“You said you’re my guardian angel, which means you were always with me. But it seems like you’ve seen lots of lives that you could make comments on other people.” Chanyeol finally brings the topic up.

Once again, Baekhyun falls into silence, thinking. “Well,” he shifts his gaze away, “the errands I have to do involved with meeting one human to another.”

“So I wasn’t your only guy.” Chanyeol fakes a disappointed voice.

Yet it seems like Baekhyun takes it seriously. “You were my only human. You’re always my only human.”

Not expecting the answer, Chanyeol ends up being speechless. Baekhyun seems so sincere and somehow melancholic.

“I really was supposed to leave seven weeks ago.” Baekhyun says out of the blue. “That was my actual last day.”

Chanyeol stills on his spot.

“But I couldn’t leave just like that.” Baekhyun offers a smile. A mellow one. “How could I leave someone I’ve technically taken care of for eighteen years just like that? If I was a human, you would’ve been my foster child.” He pauses to laugh. “I… persuaded those above to give me more time. But you see, they were generous and stingy at the same time. They gave me forty-nine days to be with you, yet they didn’t allow me to be near you the way I used to be. That was why all I could do was to get on the same bus with you or watch you from far. It was enough, though, at least I could see you’re doing fine without me tailing around. I’ve always been your luck, and now you’re stripped off it.”

‘ _Good luck, Chanyeol. You might want to be more careful from now on. Luck won’t be by your side forever, after all._ ’

“What I don’t understand even until now, though,” Baekhyun tilts his head, “is that you can see me. And apparently, you’ve been seeing me for long. I didn’t even notice. I honestly don’t know how is that possible.”

Chanyeol exhales lightly, doing some thinking to himself as well. “Could it be that it’s because you’re not my guardian angel anymore? Although… I can’t really find the logic in it as well.”

Baekhyun chuckles. “However, as I said, I don’t think I should question it too much. I don’t want to jinx the miracle.”

“Jinx the miracle?”

“I mean,” Baekhyun’s voice gets softer, “it feels like if I keep questioning about it, it would be taken away from me instead. I don’t want to risk it.”

Chanyeol feels warmth filling his chest, but at the same time an unexplainable sadness twist inside him as well. “Me, being able to see you. Do you like it that much?”

Baekhyun smiles at him again. “It’s a miracle to me.”

Again, Chanyeol is at loss at what to reply.

How can he, when Baekhyun is looking at him with warmth and adoration dripping from his eyes?

How can he ever beat Baekhyun’s heart for him?

===

_ And I didn’t know _

_ that I wouldn’t see him again _

_ But we shared a moment _

_ and hoped it will last ‘til the end _

===

They’re walking along the sidewalk, not too far away from the pizza restaurant.

Once more, Chanyeol’s attention is locked by the trees and flowers that are on their full bloom. The wind is quite strong that it blows some petals away, and they rain on them, floating like colorful snow. Chanyeol’s favorite season is summer, but he could never look away from the beauty he finds every spring. Even the rain smells different in this season.

He takes a glance at Baekhyun, who has been walking quietly next to him. Baekhyun has a hand lifted, palm spread upwards. He’s trying to catch a petal.

“What are you doing?” Chanyeol asks anyway.

Baekhyun seems a bit startled, before he looks up at him. “Trying to catch a petal.”

“It can’t be from the TV drama I just finished last week, right?”

“What?”

“In the drama, the lead girl said that if a petal falls on your palm, your love will be reciprocated.”

Baekhyun blinks at him for a moment before breaking into a wholehearted laugh. Chanyeol can’t help but to laugh as well, trying his best to stay calm not to get weird gazes from other people who could be passing by.

“That’s –“ Baekhyun says breathlessly after calming down from his laughter, “that sounds so ridiculous!”

“Hey, don’t say that. The script writer might get offended.” Chanyeol laughs.

“Do you believe it?” Baekhyun asks with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Chanyeol snorts. “I don’t.” he says. “Petals have nothing to do with love being reciprocated or not.”

“Then what do you think has something to do with it?”

“I… don’t know. Communication? Your will in making it happen? Honesty? Communication first, I’d say.”

“So when you love someone, you have to tell that person about it honestly, hm?”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol shrugs. “And if you really like someone, you should let them know before it’s too late, I guess. Try to talk.”

Baekhyun nods. “Was that why you suddenly talked to me after a month of seeing me?”

Chanyeol almost trips on his own shoe.

“I’ve been thinking about that since the morning. I was going to ask but, yeah, I decided that it wasn’t worth the little amount of time I have with you. But I’m still curious, though. Why did you talk to me this morning?”

The petal falls on Baekhyun’s black locks.

Chanyeol thinks that maybe there really is no use in hiding a secret when it costs him nothing to reveal it.

“You know the answer.” He finally says.

Baekhyun’s gaze on him is calm and gentle. “You do like me, hm?”

“… yes.”

“Okay.” Baekhyun nods. “Thank you, for liking me.”

Chanyeol mirrors the nod.

“Are you going to ask me whether I feel the same or not?”

Thinking for a moment, Chanyeol shakes his head slowly. “I’m scared to know the answer.”

Baekhyun smiles, looking satisfied with his words. “Then don’t ask. Never ask about it, okay?”

“Why?”

Slowly turning around, Baekhyun breaks their gaze and starts to walk away.

“I wouldn’t know how to answer.”

=

The awkwardness doesn’t linger around them for too long.

Somehow Chanyeol have forgotten that there’s a mini amusement park just a few blocks from his favorite pizza restaurant. When they arrive in front of the gates, Baekhyun lifts a hand and points at the rides inside, especially at a particular mini Ferris wheel in the middle of the area.

“Can we get on that?” Baekhyun asks excitedly.

Chanyeol nods. “I only have to pay for one ticket anyway.”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes at him. “Stingy.”

With a laugh, Chanyeol guides Baekhyun inside.

Baekhyun’s head can’t stop looking left and right. There are quite lots of visitors since it’s Sunday, and once again it seems like he finds it fascinating to see families and couples getting in together. Chanyeol feels the urge to grab Baekhyun’s hand and lead him to the Ferris wheel in a safer way, but he can’t bring himself to be brave enough to do so. Not when just an hour ago, his confession made the atmosphere around them awkward.

_ Ah _ , Chanyeol curses at himself for forgetting,  _he’ll feel pain if gets touched_.

So he just patiently walks slowly as Baekhyun points out the names of the rides they’re passing by.

Once they’re inside a cabin, sitting face to face, and the wheel starts to rotate, Baekhyun’s gaze wander over the view outside. The smile on his lips never leaves him. Chanyeol finds himself smiling as well, finding that in all honesty, his feelings for Baekhyun are strong enough for him to be happy if Baekhyun is.

“This is where Kyungsoo broke up with you.” Baekhyun says out of sudden, chuckling.

Chanyeol blinks at Baekhyun. “Is it really that funny?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that,” Baekhyun pauses to giggle, “you were so broken and you kept writing sad songs for the whole month, it was so heartbreaking to watch.”

“But you’re laughing.”

“You even wrote a song titled ‘Ferris Wheel’!” Baekhyun’s laughter gets louder. “Gosh you were so sappy I couldn’t bear to see you.”

Sighing heavily, Chanyeol nods at Baekhyun with a bitter smile. “Yeah. It was embarrassing. I get it.”

When his laughter subsides, Baekhyun’s gaze wanders again over the view beneath them. “You went through your heartbreak pretty well, I think.”

Chanyeol snorts. “I didn’t get out of my apartment for two weeks. I think I wasn’t  _that_  well.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing you cry when you saw a picture you took with him.” Baekhyun covers his lips to hide his laugh. “But that’s not what I meant when I said you went through it well.”

“Then what is it?”

Baekhyun still doesn’t tear his eyes off the view outside. “I didn’t know what you told him in the cabin. But all I concluded from the entire week you were moping around was that you didn’t blame anyone for it. The way your relationship ended.” He smiles gently. “You didn’t hate him, you didn’t blame him, didn’t even once said anything bad about him even when your friends were fishing it out of you. And to my surprise, although not really, you didn’t blame yourself either. You knew you did nothing wrong, you’ve tried your best to keep whatever it was that the both of you had.”

Chanyeol brings his hands together and clasp them. It isn’t the right time to bring up his past, but he finds that it doesn’t matter either. Does it mean he has moved on from all of that?

He chuckles to himself. Of course he has. If he hasn’t, he wouldn’t be here with Baekhyun.

And if Baekhyun thinks that he handled his heartbreak well, then he believes it. He believes he had done the right thing.

“ _It wasn’t you, it wasn’t me. It was just that we weren’t meant to be._ ”

Chanyeol whips his head in an instant. “That’s… a lyric from my song.”

“The ‘Ferris Wheel’ one.” Baekhyun smirks. “ _Maybe it took me, maybe it took you, to find whom our love was meant for._ ”

“You know the lyrics?”

Baekhyun glances at Chanyeol for a while before he turns to the window again. “ _And we’re not each other’s happy ending; we’re just a part in each other’s story._ ”

It takes a moment for Chanyeol to realize that Baekhyun is actually singing the melody along.

“ _Thank you for being a part of my journey,_ ” Baekhyun’s voice gets softer, “ _sorry that you had to be._ ”

Chanyeol can only watch the afternoon sun shining down Baekhyun’s face.

“ _And forever,_ ” Baekhyun murmurs, “ _I’ll bring a piece of you with me._ ”

Something inside Chanyeol urges him to stand. He does and walks towards Baekhyun’s seat and sits next to him. Baekhyun senses his presence next to him and detaches his gaze from the window to look up at him.

“ _And I wish,_ ” his guardian angel whispers, “ _this wheel slows down._ ”

“ _And give me more time,_ ” Chanyeol whispers back, “ _to tell you goodbye._ ”

Baekhyun turns around completely to face him, and somewhere along the way his hand brushes against Chanyeol’s. He retracts his hand back as if he’s burnt, only to freeze at the next second. He stares at his hand, frowning.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asks in worry. “Did it hurt?”

“… no.” Baekhyun tilts his head. “It… didn’t.”

Chanyeol blinks. “It didn’t?”

“It didn’t.” Baekhyun then turns to look at him. “How is this possible?”

Wordlessly, Chanyeol takes Baekhyun’s hand in his hold, bringing Baekhyun closer to him. It seems like Baekhyun is waiting for the pain to finally run through his body, but nothing happens even after a minute. He chuckles while looking at his hand. “Fascinating.” He mumurs.

“Is that your favorite word?” Chanyeol teases.

Baekhyun looks up at him with a smile, which eventually fades as they lock their gazes with each other. It’s when Baekhyun’s breath hits his cheek that he notices the tiny distance they share. His eyes cast down on Baekhyun’s slightly parted lips which had recited the lyrics of his self-written song. He stares up again to meet Baekhyun’s eyes, noting the color brown they have.

“It’s not a goodbye yet.” Baekhyun mouths, very quietly. “I still have a few hours.”

Chanyeol wants to nod, but Baekhyun’s gaze locks him from doing so.

Thus, he stares down at Baekhyun’s lips again.

And gently presses his own pair against them.

===

_ I saw your face _

_ Under the moonlight grace _

_ And I knew too well, yet _

_ I still wished to be with you _

===

They stay at the amusement park for quite long. After the Ferris wheel, Baekhyun insists that he wants to see Chanyeol playing more games there. Chanyeol ends up trying almost every single booth and ride, with Baekhyun either rooting for or laughing at him. In the end, Chanyeol wins himself a huge rabbit plushie.

“It looks like you.” Chanyeol comments, expecting Baekhyun to pout or pinch him now that they can actually get in physical contact with each other.

Instead, Baekhyun’s face lights up. “Really?”

If it was a few hours ago, Chanyeol would’ve gulped in nervousness, or awkwardly looked away.

But now, Chanyeol accepts and basks in the thrill and sugar rush he feels inside.

“Yes.” He smiles.

When they get out of the area, it’s already dark enough. Baekhyun suggests that they head home. They walk for a while until Chanyeol decides to haul a cab, not wanting to waste his energy on walking to the bus stop. The ride home is silent yet filled with contentment.

It’s been a tiring, yet satisfying day

“Are you that happy?”

Baekhyun doesn’t look at him, but the cheeky smile on Baekhyun’s face gives the answer away easily. “You have no idea.”

They’re on their way to his apartment building from the corner of the block. The streetlamps are lighting up the pavements, and Chanyeol realizes that it’s actually his first time walking home with someone, hand in hand, after years.

Chanyeol glances down at their intertwined hands, suppressing a smile from breaking his face.

_ He’s happy because he’s holding hands with me. _

__

_ He’s that happy because he’s holding hands with me. _

__

_ He’s really  _ that _happy because –_

“Your hand is so warm.” Baekhyun comments.

Chanyeol looks up at him. “Yours is… quite cold.”

“Really?” Baekhyun stares at their joined hands. “Then does that mean we complete each other?”

Almost choking on his own saliva, Chanyeol coughs to clear his throat. “Wh-what?”

“It was said in one of the dramas you used to watch.” Baekhyun grins. “Two people with opposite traits complete each other.”

“Was it me who watched too many TV dramas or was it you instead?” Chanyeol sighs.

“What do you think about it, though?”

Chanyeol’s gaze stays on Baekhyun for a moment before he looks away. “Instead of traits, I think there’s this one ultimate key to people completing each other.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“You’re not going to tease me if I say it?”

“Why would I tease you?”

Chanyeol takes a look at Baekhyun smirking at him. “Your face is so ready to do so.”

“I won’t, I promise!” Baekhyun lifts his free hand. “I swear!”

Laughing in disbelief, Chanyeol’s gaze wanders around the night skies above them. “Understanding.” He breathes out. “Everything works out when two people understands the reason behind each other’s actions with an open heart and mind.”

“Wow wait,” Baekhyun tugs at his hand, “that was one of your songs, wasn’t it? ‘Open Heart’ was the title.”

Chanyeol laughs amusedly. “Are you going to sing it right now?”

“I can if you want. I know the entire song!”

“Nah, thanks, but don’t.”

He catches the sight of Baekhyun pouting at him. “Is my voice that bad?”

He shakes his head, smiling cheekily.

“Then why?”

After thinking for a while, Chanyeol decides to be a little daring.

“Because I’m afraid I might have to kiss you again once you’re done.”

The way Baekhyun’s eyes flutter in shyness is worth it.

=

Chanyeol watches as Baekhyun observes the dishes on his dining table.

“Omelet, sausage bites, kimchi, rice.” Baekhyun points out all of them. “Yeah. Better than instant noodle.”

Clapping his hands, Chanyeol sits down on the chair across where Baekhyun is. “I wish you can eat too.”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun mumbles. “I wish I can eat too.”

“It’s okay. You can just watch me eat.”

“Yeah. Which is what I did for too many times.” Baekhyun pours water from the jug to Chanyeol’s empty glass. “But tonight is different, though.”

“How so?”

Baekhyun places the jug back on the table before he grins at Chanyeol. “This time, you don’t feel alone since you know I’m here.”

Chanyeol stares back at Baekhyun quietly, while everything inside him twists and turns because  _oh how I want to hug you so much right now_.

“Eat.” Baekhyun gestures at his plate.

Doing so, Chanyeol tries to hide the wide smile that threatens to spread on his face. Baekhyun’s hand might be cold, but every word he told Chanyeol has been warmer than the sunlight.

After finishing his dinner, Chanyeol suggests that they should watch some movies. He had just downloaded all of the Marvel movies from the first Ironman to the third Thor. Baekhyun chooses Dr. Strange, much to Chanyeol’s favor.

“He’s so cool.” Baekhyun would comment every time the lead character Stephen Strange appears.

“Can’t you do that?” Chanyeol would ask every time Stephen Strange does magic things, earning a lot of pinches from Baekhyun.

Somewhere along the movie, Chanyeol eventually gets absorbed into the story and ends up giving his full attention to his TV. It’s at the scene where Stephen Strange is persuading The Ancient One to get back to her body when he feels slight cold on his hands. When he finally tears his gaze from the screen to take a look, he finds Baekhyun’s fingers interlaced with his own.

Baekhyun is staring down at their hands, unreadable emotions on his face.

“Is something wrong?” Chanyeol asks quietly.

Seemingly lost in thoughts for a moment, Baekhyun doesn’t answer right away, eyes still on their hands until Chanyeol tightens the hold. Baekhyun finally looks up at him, looking troubled.

“Is something wrong, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol repeats.

For a moment, Baekhyun just keeps his eyes on him, observing the features of his face, as if he wants to memorize all of them. “Hey,” he then smiles, “you finally said my name.”

Chanyeol is stunned for a moment. “Really?”

“You didn’t notice?” Baekhyun clicks his tongue.

Smiling apologetically, Chanyeol brings their hands up between them. “Is something wrong?”

Baekhyun’s gaze shifts on their intertwined hands. “Have you ever realized something you should’ve realized long ago when it’s already too late?” he says quietly.

Instead of trying to recall if he ever had that situation, Chanyeol tries to read what’s on Baekhyun’s mind. The silence Baekhyun is drowning in only tells him that something is not right.

“I’ve spent eighteen years guarding you.” Baekhyun starts. “I’ve been with you since you were a child. All I knew was that I had to protect you, make your day easier. You were a responsibility to me back then.”

“Then through the years, I watched you grow. I watched you in your happy days. I watched you in your sad nights. I’ve seen so many sides of you, whether when you were alone or with your friends. I could even guess what you would do before you did it. From being my responsibility, you became my favorite human.”

“So many years went by, so many that I didn’t even really notice it, and out of sudden, you were a man. A fully grown human with your own personality. You became an independent being. You didn’t really need me anymore, but I stayed around you, not because it’s been my job, but I thought, what if you get hurt without me knowing? I became so overprotective of you. I never get to think about what I was to you aside of being your guardian angel, because being a guardian angel never required feelings. Yet there I was, caring for you so, so much. That was what I put it as. I cared a lot for you. I decided that it was just because you were my favorite human. Because all of what you’ve become, I’ve seen it being made. That was it. I cared a lot for you.”

“Until earlier, you told me you like me.” Baekhyun pulls his hand slowly. Chanyeol gasps quietly before he catches the hand again, securing it in his hold. “And before you could do it, I asked myself, what do I feel about you. And suddenly, I couldn’t think of it. The answer. Because in that moment, all the feelings I had about you, the feelings I’ve accumulated for years, they weighed down on me all at once. At first, I found that it became so complicated. Was it affection? Was it just that I care a lot? Or was it that type of love those people in TV dramas always talk about? I couldn’t find the answer myself.”

“Then we got on the Ferris wheel. It should’ve been fun, but all I could think of was when Kyungsoo broke up with you there. I felt bitter out of sudden, so bitter that I laughed while bringing up the topic about Kyungsoo to you because I needed to mask it. I was so bitter. Humans called it jealousy, but I understand what it means, and it wasn’t jealousy that I felt. I suddenly remember why I was so bitter that day when that person broke up with you, making you miserable for weeks.”

Chanyeol brings their hands to him, resting them against his chest.

“That day, when you went home broken, I thought to myself for the entire night, how it would’ve been if only it was me whom you fell in love with. I kept imagining the version where I was a human, who then met you at a music exhibit, who then got to talk with you for a few times and then made you fall for me. Then in the end I told myself, if only I was that person, I would’ve fell in love with you even deeper than you did with me. I would’ve loved you more than you loved me. I would’ve been the one who loved more. I would’ve done you better.”

“Then you sat next to me, and we faced each other, and I found out it didn’t hurt for me to touch you, and we were so close, and I was in some kind of euphoria, which then led me to find the answer to the question I didn’t let you ask me.”

The temporary silence starts to suffocate Chanyeol. “What did you find?”

Baekhyun smiles, albeit brokenly.

“I love you.” he answers with a whisper. “I have loved you for so many years. In any way possible.”

Chanyeol holds his breath. It’s like everything around him stills to give them the moment they deserve. Save for the TV noise, everything makes Chanyeol focus on the fire and nervousness in Baekhyun’s eyes.

“You might not love me like that. That much. You like me, but not enough for you to be torn apart when one day you’re told to leave me immediately.” Baekhyun looks over his laps, back hunched in the saddest way. “But I – I have loved you for so long – I love you  _that_ much, that I begged them to let me at least have a glimpse of you from time to time. Leaving you hurts me more than any punishment.”

Not able to hold it anymore, Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun into his arms, securing his small figure in his embrace.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m saying all of this. It won’t make anything better.” Baekhyun pleads against his shirt. “But yes, if you ever wonder about what I feel, that’s your answer. I love you. And I’m sorry that I told you that.”

Chanyeol detaches himself from the embrace, framing Baekhyun’s face with both of his hands to take a proper look of his guardian angel. Baekhyun looks so youthful and so lost. Tears are pooling at the corners of his eyes. “Oh no,” he runs his thumbs on the apple of Baekhyun’s cheeks, “an angel shouldn’t cry.”

Baekhyun chuckles, despite the broken look on his face. “I’m not exactly an angel. That’s just my title.”

“You’re not an angel.” Chanyeol nods. “You are  _my_ angel.”

When Chanyeol leans in slowly, giving Baekhyun a chance to pull himself away, Baekhyun puts a hand on his nape and meets him in the middle instead.

===

_ You really must’ve been an angel _

_ with that smile on your face _

_ When you, too, hoped _

_ that you could’ve been with me _

===

“If only I knew you were almost here every night, I wouldn’t have felt so alone.”

He watches as Baekhyun’s thin lips curl up into a smile.  _Why are you so adorable – oh God stop – please have a mercy for my heart_. “I’ve tried so many times to let you know that I was there, but yeah, there was no use.”

They’re on his bed, safe and warm under his blanket. Baekhyun had stretched an arm for him to use as a pillow. So now he’s resting his head on it, his own arm wrapping around Baekhyun’s petite figure. Chanyeol can easily scoop Baekhyun into his arms, but somehow, staying like this makes him feel so content and safe.

He’s in the arms of his angel, after all.

“Once I leave, you’ll really be all by yourself.” Baekhyun says quietly. “But I don’t think I should worry. Aside of your sloppiness, you’re an independent man who takes good care of himself. I don’t have to worry about you, do I?”

Chanyeol brings Baekhyun’s figure closer against him. “You don’t.”

Baekhyun places his lips to ghost against Chanyeol’s forehead. “Good.”

“What about you?” Chanyeol braves himself to ask. “What would happen to you once you leave?”

There’s a pause for a moment before Baekhyun answers. “Be with my friends. Exist like that for a while. Maybe if I’m lucky enough, I can be someone else’s guardian angel.”

“Can’t you be mine again?”

Baekhyun chuckles softly. “I wish I can.”

“Isn’t there someone you can talk about it with?”

“My connections aren’t that wide.”

They share a laughter for a moment. “Is there anything you regret about? Being my guardian angel.”

“None.” Baekhyun answers with a firm voice. “Being with you was the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my whole existence.”

“Oh come on.” Chanyeol chuckles. “I can’t be that great.”

“Well,” Baekhyun puts their foreheads against each other, “I regret that I can’t stay longer to see you find the one you’d spend the rest of your life with.”

Chanyeol leans back to look up at Baekhyun.

“I want to make sure you find love.” Baekhyun smiles. “But yeah, I guess I’ll have to trust you to do it by yourself.”

“I wish it’s you.” Chanyeol says. “I wish I can spend the rest of my life with you.”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “Chanyeol,” he calls gently, “you don’t love me that much.”

“… or you’re saying that I shouldn’t love you that much.”

“… yes.” Baekhyun whispers. “Because you shouldn’t invest your feelings in someone who isn’t going to be in your future.”

Chanyeol swallows in the coldness he got from the words. Baekhyun isn’t going to be in his future. He knows that very well. But that doesn’t stop him from wishing Baekhyun is.

“I’ve had my time. Just enough time.” Baekhyun reaches out a hand to swipe away the hair from Chanyeol’s forehead. “I wish for more, but it was enough.”

“It’s not enough for me.” Chanyeol replies. “I only got one day to actually love you.”

Baekhyun grins. “At least you got to do it.”

Mirroring the grin, Chanyeol leans up to meet Baekhyun for another kiss. His arms sneak around Baekhyun’s torso to pull him and press their chests against another. Baekhyun wraps his arms around Chanyeol’s neck, running his fingers through Chanyeol’s soft locks.

At some point, Chanyeol is facing the matrass, supporting his weigh with his elbows, with Baekhyun secured under him, cold palm against Chanyeol’s burning cheek. Baekhyun pulls him down to lock their lips again, while Chanyeol cradles Baekhyun’s head between his hands. He hopes that the heat he emanates from his body can seep through the fabrics of their shirts and warm Baekhyun. Such a warm soul like Baekhyun shouldn’t feel this cold under his touch.

Maybe the coldness is there to remind him that they were never meant to be.

Maybe it is there to serve as a reminder that Baekhyun is just one of the parts in his story, instead of his happy ending.

That Baekhyun was just a supporting figure, and their love was just a cameo.

=

_ It wasn’t you, it wasn’t me. It was just that we weren’t meant to be. _

_ Maybe it took me, maybe it took you, to find whom our love was meant for. _

_ And we’re not each other’s happy ending; we’re just a part in each other’s story. _

_ Thank you for being a part of my journey, _   _sorry that you had to be._

_ And forever, _   _I’ll bring a piece of you with me._

_ And I wish, _   _this wheel slows down._

_ And give me more time, to tell you goodbye. _

=

“You told him  _what_?”

“That I was his guardian angel and my time was up because he had turned twenty-five and didn’t need me anymore.”

“… wasn’t that too much?”

Baekhyun looks up at the window at the third floor of the apartment building. The room behind it is dark. “That was.” He whispers.

Suho lets out a sigh. “Did you end it nicely with him?”

“Was there even any way I can end it nicely?”

“… right.” Suho kicks the pavement beneath them. “Sorry.”

Baekhyun tears his gaze from the window. He doesn’t think he can bear to look at it anymore, knowing his favorite human is inside. “I  _am_ sorry.” He turns at Suho. “I’ve caused you trouble for keeping me here.”

“Well, yeah, technically you have. Chief has been looking for me as if I’m a fugitive.” Suho chuckles. “But the thing is, he doesn’t get to punish me. So I can do whatever I want.”

“You’re a very good friend, Suho.” Baekhyun smiles. “It’s been an honor to have you.”

Suho stares back at him, the light atmosphere long gone. “How are you feeling?”

Baekhyun nods. “So-so.”

“You’re going to cease to exist tomorrow, and you’re feeling  _so-so_?” Suho raises an eyebrow. “You won’t turn into anything, Baekhyun. You’ll be nothing. As if you were never there in the first place.”

“It’s alright.” Baekhyun holds his smile. “At least he gets to remember me.”

_ At least he gets to love me, even if it's just for a night. _

Suho sighs heavily. “Will he be alright?”

A soft smile spread on Baekhyun’s lips. “He’ll be. I believe in him.”

Nodding hesitatingly, Suho glances at the window. “If you say so.”

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Baekhyun walks towards his friend. “The one who allowed Chanyeol to see and touch me.”

“Oh, yeah.” Suho laughs nervously. “Was it obvious?”

“I thought it was because I’ve forced a physical contact with him before, but it wasn’t the case. I figured out someone should’ve tweaked some things. I could only think of you.”

“Why me?”

Baekhyun laughs. “You’re the only one who was possibly kind enough to do it.”

Suho stares at his friend sadly. “I wish I could’ve done more.” He says genuinely. “I might not know how you feel, but I could see it. I could see how you’ve come to love him so much, way past your original intention.”

Wiping a tear away from his cheek, Baekhyun stares up at the window again. “He really thinks I was his guardian angel.”

Suho puts a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“You  _were_.”

=

“He’s gone to another city?” Jongin frowns. “Just right on the day you finally wanted to ask him out?”

Chanyeol shrugs, strumming his guitar strings randomly.

“Just – how unlucky is that?”

“I know, right?” Chanyeol replies flatly.

Sehun comes in to the studio, hands full with food boxes. He stops to take a look at Chanyeol. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t bother him.” Jongin whines. “The stranger on the bus is not on the bus anymore.”

“Say what?” Sehun places the boxes on the table near Chanyeol’s keyboard. “Where did the guy go?”

Chanyeol looks up to find Sehun, only to stop his gaze on the chairs around his keyboard. His eyes play a trick with him; suddenly a flash of scene of him and that person singing together there plays.

“Somewhere far.” He answers genuinely.

“But – your song, how about your song? The happy twist? ‘ _Stranger On The Bus_ ’?”

Jongin raises a hand to catch Sehun’s attention, and when he does, he mouths in horror; ‘ _stop it!!’_

Chanyeol halts his fingers, hovering around the strings. “I’ll make another song.”

Then Chanyeol proceeds to play some random melody, while Jongin palms his own forehead. Sehun folds his arms on his chest and stares at his friend for a long moment. In the end, he sighs heavily. “You really like him that much, huh?” he asks in a small voice, blatantly pitying Chanyeol. He regrets it for a moment because he feels like he’s being insensitive with his friend’s apparent foul mood.

However, Chanyeol replies with a small smile, looking content.

“I do.”

=

In another universe, or probably another version of their story, Chanyeol met Baekhyun in a music exhibit when they were nineteen.

Instead of Kyungsoo, or whoever he might have met that day, he met Baekhyun instead. Baekhyun was a friend of Kyungsoo, and he was the one who waited somewhere near the stage for the drinks Kyungsoo were buying for the both of them. Instead of Kyungsoo, it was Baekhyun who was sitting alone, absentmindedly staring at the people around the room.

Thus, it was Baekhyun whom Chanyeol laid his eyes on, when he was sitting on the stage, a guitar heavy on his laps, panicking because his band was on the brink of falling to their doom since their vocalist, Jongdae, couldn’t make it to the exhibit. It was Baekhyun whom Chanyeol had seen first, and it was Baekhyun whom Chanyeol called through rough whispering; _‘psst, psst!!_ ’

It was Baekhyun who sent him a death glare.

And Chanyeol asked him, _“do you sing?”_

__

_ “… why would you want to know that?” _

__

_ “My vocalist is having a high fever at home. I can’t even blame him if we fail to put on a show today.” _

__

_ “Oh. You want me to save you.” _

__

_ “But do you sing?” _

It was Baekhyun who shrugged at him nonchalantly despite already standing. _“Not that great but I think I won’t embarrass you. What songs?”_

And instead of Kyungsoo who only sang three out of five songs they had on their list since he didn’t know the rest that well, Baekhyun sang all five because he just happened to be very familiar with all of them. Baekhyun didn’t just save Chanyeol’s band; he was the highlight of the exhibit.

Thus, instead of Kyungsoo, it was Baekhyun whom Chanyeol had thanked repeatedly, whom Chanyeol had promised a fancy lunch for.

And instead of the Korean cuisine restaurant that Kyungsoo loved, it was the pizza restaurant near the campus that Chanyeol treated Baekhyun to. Baekhyun loved pizza. Chanyeol was a slave for pizza. Just like that, they found another thing in common aside of their music taste.

Their pining days were filled with spontaneous lunch appointments and jamming sessions instead of shy talks and ‘ _how about a dinner together?_ ’. Chanyeol’s friends became Baekhyun’s, and Baekhyun’s only best friend ended up starting a thing with one of Chanyeol’s friend. Slowly yet steadily, their lives became intertwined with each other.

Thus, instead of a year, Chanyeol ended up asking Baekhyun to be his lover only four months after they first met.

Instead of sweet talks and planned dates, the beginning of their relationship was filled with boisterous laughter and midnight snacking. Chanyeol has always been a bright person who takes good care of others, until Baekhyun came around like a sunshine and took better care of him. It was as if they were the same person. They were different, but so similar to each other. During the growth of their love, instead of Chanyeol being the one who wore his heart bare at the hem of his sleeves, it was Baekhyun who gave lots, lots of himself, lots of love, lots of affection. Chanyeol always attempted to give more, but it was always Baekhyun who ended up doing so. Because they were young, their hearts were full of love to give, and they had the right person to give their love to.

They gave, and gave, and gave, but they never forgot to appreciate and take, and take, and take, and give back, and take again, and give back as much. Because that was the point of loving. To give as much as you take, and not being scared to give a bit more.

When they were twenty-three, as natural as it could be, they had a downfall in their relationship. The adult life was finally weighing down its toll on them, and they began to question everything they’ve done and planned. Was it right? Is this right? Will it be right? Everything became questionable, including the thing between them. Thus, that day, in the Ferris Wheel, it was Baekhyun who sat across him instead of Kyungsoo. It was Baekhyun with him. But instead of being asked to put their relationship on a break, Baekhyun asked about what Chanyeol really felt about them. What he wanted to do with them. How would Chanyeol like to fix them. Baekhyun was that kind of person. He didn’t trust himself to make a decision for the both of them. Because he knew how Chanyeol would agree anyways, and most of the times, the things Chanyeol agreed with ended up hurting himself.

Instead of a break, which had led to a permanent end when it was with Kyungsoo, Chanyeol just asked Baekhyun to give them three days. Three days of thinking. It should be enough for him. Baekhyun said he needed it as well. Chanyeol promised he would show up again after three days, no matter what the outcome would be. Baekhyun promised he’d be there when Chanyeol shows up.

Chanyeol ended up going to Baekhyun after two days. Baekhyun spread both of his arms the moment he notices Chanyeol is already under the doorframe of his apartment. They hugged, and sobbed, and laughed, and sobbed again, and cursed at each other for being so difficult, and apologized at each other for the same reason. And then they promised, while looking at each other’s wet eyes, that they’d never doubt their love again. In the world full of dependent variables, they promised they’d be each other’s independent variable.

Instead of spending two weeks being broken all by himself in his room, Chanyeol spent two weeks traveling around Europe with Baekhyun.

Instead of being an emotional break up song, ‘Ferris Wheel’ ended up being written as a song about a second chance, faith in love, and trust.

And when they were twenty-five, on a Sunday, at the sixth day of May, it wasn’t Baekhyun’s last day on Earth. It was just a usual Sunday. Or maybe it could be a special Sunday. Maybe it was Baekhyun’s birthday, which was why it was special. They got out in the morning, took the bus, hopped down at the next stop, and strolled along the sidewalk. It was a fine Spring day. Chanyeol always loved Spring for the vibrant colors. Baekhyun loved Spring because he was born in it.

They stopped by their usual café, but instead of morning coffee, they ordered sweet drinks instead; Chanyeol got himself a caramel macchiato, while Baekhyun tried on chocolate chip frapuccino. Baekhyun ordered a bunch of chocolate cookies for Chanyeol’s sweet tooth. They went through their lazy morning like that, with small talks, random comments, giggles, staring, giggles, more small talks, staring, ‘ _I love you_ ’, ‘ _hell yes you do_ ’.

Then they went to Chanyeol’s studio, and jammed to lots of songs, especially ones they used to sing together when they were in college. Baekhyun also sang some songs Chanyeol had written and composed. After spending their energy like that, Chanyeol dragged a laughing Baekhyun to the nearest pizza restaurant – which had become their favorite. They ordered a large double cheese pizza, and as they chew, they commented on random people who came and left, ‘ _why do you think that lady came alone?_ ’ ‘ _I’m assuming his husband doesn’t like pizza_ ’ ‘ _tables of groups are always loud, aren’t they?’_ ‘ _I know, right? They have too much to talk about. Imagine if we’re eating with Jongin and Kyungsoo. And Jongdae too. And Sehun. Oh man. Disaster!_ ’

They walked on the sidewalk again, and the flower petals are falling down, and when Baekhyun caught one petal on his palm, Chanyeol commented about how the leading lady from the drama he had just finished recently said that his first love will come true if he catches a petal. Baekhyun laughed because ‘ _it sounds ridiculous_ ’, but then he stared up at Chanyeol and smiled before he said ‘ _I didn’t need to catch any petal to make you come true, anyway_ ’. Chanyeol was his first love. Chanyeol was the only love Baekhyun has ever known. That was why Baekhyun was so reckless at showering Chanyeol with his love. And in that moment, Chanyeol swore to himself that Baekhyun would be his last. The last love he’d ever need to know.

They visited the amusement park. They got on the Ferris Wheel again, sitting next to each other, and ended up recalling that time when they almost broke up in the same cabin, at the same height, and they laughed so hard about it Baekhyun thought they were going to fall since they shook the cabin too much. The sunset glowed so beautifully on Baehyun’s face, and Chanyeol spent a whole minute staring at it, basking in the masterpiece, before he dipped in and placed a sweet, heavy, languid kiss on Baekhyun’s soft lips. There was no lust, no rush, no growing needs. Just sweetness and gratefulness, because he was thankful that Baekhyun was there with him, to love and be loved by him. Thankful that the Ferris Wheel was still there to witness the growth of their relationship. Thankful because he was so loved and could love so much.

Their dinner was healthier than their lunch. Chanyeol didn’t forget to buy a birthday cake for Baekhyun, and they ended up eating it while watching a movie. Somewhere after the first half of the movie, they ended up staring at each other again, and Baekhyun just randomly, gently whispered, ‘ _I love you_ ’, because it seemed to be the right moment to say it. Chanyeol didn’t reply it in words; he just leaned in and kissed Baekhyun. There was the need. The rush. The brewing lust. The thick love. They moved from the couch to the bed. They spent the night loving each other physically, caressing, touching, marking here and there. Chanyeol’s name was the only name in Baekhyun’s breathless whispers, and Baekhyun was the only name Chanyeol grumbled against the neck of the name’s owner as they reached their peak together. They were spent, satisfied, loving, loved.

And at the next morning, Chanyeol woke up with a softly snoring Baekhyun by his side.

In that universe, Chanyeol spend more than a day with Baekhyun.

But he’s not living in that universe.

In this universe, where he lives in, he wakes up alone on the bed. The spot next to him is unmade. There’s a huge rabbit plushie sitting on his desk. His TV is still on after being neglected for the entire night. Some of his plates were resting next on the sink instead of being in the rack. No matter how much he tries to think he was only dreaming, he keeps being reminded that Baekhyun really was there.

In this universe, he forces himself to move on. He doesn’t want to waste two weeks succumbing to the pain again. He forces himself to go to the bathroom and wash up. Put on decent clothes. Grab Matilda and go out. Instead of the bus, he hauls a cab and stares absentmindedly through the window of the car for the whole ride to the office, and promises to himself he’ll start driving again after being quite traumatized by the accident more than a month before. He gets on work as soon as he arrives at the studio. Jongdae comes a little bit late, and maybe he had noticed how lifeless Chanyeol looks, thus he decides to pick up his work where he left it and acts like he doesn’t notice. Chanyeol knows Jongdae is pretending after all. It’s Jongin who immediately asks about ‘the stranger on the bus’ when the lunch time comes. Sehun was curious too. He just said that the stranger had left to somewhere far. Baekhyun left to somewhere he can’t reach.

In this universe, Chanyeol forces himself to get by. Doesn’t finish the song he had started to write for the stranger on the bus, never got to put a happy twist on it. But he acknowledges that he’s in pain. His chance to love and be loved was stripped away just like that, and he gradually deals with it. He recognizes the pain and hurt in him. And with that, he promises himself he’ll get better. That it’s not the end for him; Baekhyun wouldn’t want it to be his end. He only thinks of how Baekhyun loves the way he takes good care of himself, and that’s what he’s going to do. For the sake of Baekhyun, who had cherished him so much, he’ll be better.

And he does get better. He does get by. Baekhyun becomes a fond memory for him. Baekhyun becomes his good side, his good traits, his good point of view about everything. Baekhyun becomes his reminder of picking himself up whenever tough time comes. Baekhyun’s faith in him leads him to have faith in himself. Baekhyun’s wish comes true, quite long after; Chanyeol finally finds love, and he swears he’s going to give all the love he couldn’t give Baekhyun to his new dearest.

Even after Baekhyun left, he becomes Chanyeol’s luck for the rest of his life.

In this universe, Chanyeol is broken, but he also heals.

In this universe, Chanyeol loves Baekhyun as much as he could, and keeps Baekhyun alive in him. Baekhyun is forever his guardian angel.

Even if it’s just for a very short moment, Chanyeol got to love Baekhyun. He got to make Baekhyun an important part of his story.

Maybe that’s what matters the most.

===

_ But it’s time to face the truth _

_ I will never be with you _

===

 


	4. Epilogue

He was tasked to pick up a woman, barely twenty-seven years old.

The woman had a husband and a son, which was not something Baekhyun would consider as something to think of to get his work done. A soul was just a soul. His only job as a Grim Reaper was to pick the soul up and accompany it to the door which would lead to the other side.

The woman was supposed to die from a car crash. The paramedics had done all they could to save her, but Baekhyun as existed long enough to see that no effort humans do can deny what’s already written on the books Grim Reapers carry. It was not an unusual scene for Baekhyun, when he saw how distressed they were, realizing they couldn’t save the woman. He had seen that type of sight for too many times.

He then learnt that the woman wasn’t alone in the car. She was with her eight years old son, and the child didn’t even get a single scratch on him. He heard how they said that logically the son would’ve at least suffered a few injuries, but there he was, unscathed. They had called it a miracle. Baekhyun had scoffed hard at their choice of words.

There was no miracle. Only fate and perfectly timed events.

It was actually cliché. A parent died, leaving their child. Baekhyun had worked with that case for too many times already. He never bothered to dwell deeper; their future was not his responsibility after all.

Wanting to kill some time before the woman’s soul completely detaches from her body, he wandered around the hospital. He found the kid at a ward. The kid was sitting on the bed, as silent as a statue. He was just fairly curious about the kid; he was affected by how the humans kept claiming the fact that he survived as a miracle. He was leaning against the door frame, when the kid shifted gaze around the room, and to his surprise, stopped on him. They stayed like that for a moment before Baekhyun realized.

The kid was looking at  _him_.

“Uncle,” the kid called softly, “you were there… weren’t you?”

He felt numb. He was panicking, but he felt numb instead. A human child was able to see him. That was, from any aspect, impossible.

That  _was_  the miracle.

“When we were on the strut. Street. On the street.” The child whispered. “You came and stood near my mom.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. He was too shocked to.

He didn’t notice at first, but as soon as he saw something glistening on the child’s face, he finally realized the child was crying. No sobs. Just tears flowing down the tiny face.

“Why didn’t you help her?” the child asked, voice weak and trembling. “Why didn’t you help us?”

He didn’t get to answer; a human came into the room, probably to check on the child. He didn’t get to answer, for the moment the other human arrived next to the bed, the child’s head lolled backwards, and the tiny, fragile body fell on the matrass.

He didn’t get to answer, because he didn’t know what to.

All he knew was that, he felt so, so severely guilty for something that wasn’t even his fault. It wasn’t even a fault. It was something that was natural to happen; it was natural, yet for that child’s life, it was something that would change him forever. He would grow up without a mother. His family wasn’t complete anymore. His right to live a content life was snatched away from his tiny hands.

It was natural for the world, but it was a doom for that child.

And Baekhyun felt like he was the one to blame for the way the child’s future got ruined.

With heavy, tormenting feeling inside his chest, Baekhyun left the ward to do his unfinished job. He still had to take care of the mother. However, he had made a promise to that child.

‘ _I swear I’ll make your life better in any way I could_.’

=

Of course, the child couldn’t see him again after he woke up. Things just worked like that;  _not_  in his favor. Yet it didn’t discourage Baekhyun. It made everything easier for him instead.

That way, he could protect the child freely, without having to risk being seen.

It wasn’t that he tailed behind the child every second. He still had tasks to finish. But once he was done, he would go straight to the child. He learnt that the child’s name was Park Chanyeol. He and his father lived in a house in some suburbs area, living the quiet life. The father himself was a busy man, thus Chanyeol got left alone a lot. More convenient for Baekhyun. He could justify his choice better.

At first, it was just little things. From making Chanyeol notice the right answers to the questions for his homework, subtly reminding Chanyeol that he was boiling the water for his ramen, to guiding Chanyeol to a safer path towards home.

At first, it was out of misplaced guilt and unreasonable responsibility that Baekhyun stuck with the child as much as he could. He made sure none of his colleagues noticed. They weren’t meant to catch up with each other regularly anyway.

But days turned to weeks, to months, and years. He realized it long after he had started it all that he, really, had made himself Park Chanyeol’s guardian angel.

It was to the point that the humans around Chanyeol claimed him to be possessing a heavily lucky trait. Everything just worked out for him. Chanyeol was originally smart, but with Baekhyun’s sneaky doings, everything became much easier for him. It made Chanyeol likeable, and it helped Chanyeol in becoming a bright person.

Baekhyun was glad he could fulfill his promise; to make Chanyeol’s life better.

Until one day, he receives a task on his book.

_ ‘March 18th 2018’ _

__

‘ _Park Chanyeol, 25 y.o.’_

__

_ ‘Car crash _ .’

Fate always liked irony.

In the end, Chanyeol was meant to die at the same age his mother was, in the almost similar way his mother had.

Baekhyun had spent an entire day with Chanyeol, a day before the date. He had watched every move of Chanyeol and realized how much of a great person Chanyeol had become. He was warm, kind, passionate with what he loves, didn’t even hold grudges towards his past lover who had wronged him in some ways, optimistic, so content with life. Baekhyun was proud that the child, who was so broken when his mother died, whose normal yet happy future was taken away from, turned out to be doing just fine.

And he came to think that he couldn’t just let the child he had cared and loved for so much had to go at such young age, when everything was going so great for him, when a bright future was waiting for him.

Thus, on the day he was supposed to pick up Chanyeol, he saved him instead.

He pulled Chanyeol out of the street just in time.

It was as if his body was burnt. Stabbed with knives on every inch of his skin. It was a Grim Reaper’s curse to feel pain if they touch or get touched by human.

With brewing fear and relief mixed tormenting him, he left the scene.

Chanyeol was safe.

He threw his book away.

=

It didn’t take more than a day for him to be informed that he was dismissed from his job as a Grim Reaper.

Getting involved with a human’s fate was the biggest offense a Grim Reaper could ever even dare to think of, lest commit.

But somehow, Baekhyun didn’t even feel remorse or regret. He didn’t feel happy or victorious either. He didn’t know what to feel. They gave him forty-nine days before he would be taken back to the up above and forever stay there, never to return to Earth again. It was basically the end for him; he wasn’t allowed to be around Chanyeol and wouldn’t be able to see Chanyeol ever again, yet somehow, all he could think of was how should he spent his remaining days with Chanyeol without getting caught by his colleagues.

And he found that all he wanted was just to see Chanyeol and make sure he’s alright.

So he decided to take the bus Chanyeol took every morning and sit near where Chanyeol would sit at. Subtly. Silently. As if he never knew Chanyeol. As if he hadn’t protected the child for almost two decades.

As long as he can take a glance at Chanyeol from time to time, five days a week, he would be fine. He would leave the world with less regrets.

On his last day on Earth, which is a Sunday, he’s surprised that Chanyeol shows up at the bus. Chanyeol always oversleep on Sundays. He stares at Chanyeol for a moment, knowing that this would be his last chance to look at his favorite, beloved human.

Then something impossible happens.

“Y-you, do you want… to bite? I mean- I mean, do you want a bite?”

Baekhyun is beyond shocked.

“No- not just a bite- I mean- shit- do you want some? I- it’s cut in half so you don’t have to eat the entire thing right away- but you can have the other half too if you want-”

_ Is this really happening? _  Baekhyun keeps staring at his human.  _Is this really happening to me?_

“I’m… I’m sorry. I must’ve annoyed you. Have a great day.”

Chanyeol can see him.

Chanyeol sees him.

On his last day on Earth, a miracle happens to him.

=

And the miracle leads him to wonder, what really would’ve happened in another universe, or probably another version of their story, where Chanyeol met him in a music exhibit when they were nineteen?

Instead of Kyungsoo, or whoever he might have met that day, Chanyeol met him instead. He was a friend of Kyungsoo, and he was the one who waited somewhere near the stage for the drinks Kyungsoo were buying for the both of them. Instead of Kyungsoo, it was him who was sitting alone, absentmindedly staring at the people around the room.

Thus, it was him whom Chanyeol laid his eyes on, when he was sitting on the stage, a guitar heavy on his laps, panicking because his band was on the brink of falling to their doom since their vocalist, Jongdae, couldn’t make it to the exhibit. It was him whom Chanyeol had seen first, and it was him whom Chanyeol called through rough whispering; _‘psst, psst!!_ ’

It was him who ended up singing five songs with the band, saving Chanyeol’s day; yes, in that version of their story, he still got to save Chanyeol in any way possible.

Thus, instead of Kyungsoo, it was him whom Chanyeol had thanked repeatedly, whom Chanyeol had promised a fancy lunch for.

And instead of the Korean cuisine restaurant that Kyungsoo loved, it was the pizza restaurant near the campus that Chanyeol treated him to. In that universe, he loved pizza. Chanyeol was a slave for pizza. Just like that, they found another thing in common aside of their music taste.

Their pining days were filled with spontaneous lunch appointments and jamming sessions instead of shy talks and ‘ _how about a dinner together?_ ’. And instead of a year, Chanyeol ended up asking him to be his lover only four months after they first met.

Instead of sweet talks and planned dates, the beginning of their relationship was filled with boisterous laughter and midnight snacking. Chanyeol has always been a bright person who takes good care of others, and he became Chanyeol’s sunshine and took better care of him. During the growth of their love, instead of Chanyeol being the one who wore his heart bare at the hem of his sleeves, it was him who gave lots, lots of himself, lots of love, lots of affection. Chanyeol always attempted to give more, but it was always him who ended up doing so. Because they were supposed to be young, their hearts were supposed to be full of love to give, and they had the right person to give their love to.

They gave, and gave, and gave, but they never forgot to appreciate and take, and take, and take, and give back, and take again, and give back as much. Because that was the point of loving. To give as much as you take, and not being scared to give a bit more.

And when they were twenty-three, as natural as it could be, they had a downfall in their relationship. The adult life was finally weighing down its toll on them, and they began to question everything they’ve done and planned. Was it right? Is this right? Will it be right? Everything became questionable, including the thing between them. Thus, that day, in the Ferris Wheel, it was him who sat across Chanyeol instead of Kyungsoo. It was him with Chanyeol. But instead asking to put their relationship on a break, he asked about what Chanyeol really felt about them. What Chanyeol wanted to do with them. How would Chanyeol like to fix them. He didn’t trust himself to make a decision for the both of them. Because he knew how Chanyeol would agree anyways, and most of the times, the things Chanyeol agreed with ended up hurting himself.

Instead of a break, which had led to a permanent end when it was with Kyungsoo, Chanyeol just asked him to give them three days. Three days of thinking. It should be enough for him. Chanyeol promised he would show up again after three days, no matter what the outcome would be. Baekhyun promised he’d be there when Chanyeol shows up.

Chanyeol ended up going to him after two days. Baekhyun spread both of his arms the moment he notices Chanyeol is already under the doorframe of his apartment. They hugged, and sobbed, and laughed, and sobbed again, and cursed at each other for being so difficult, and apologized at each other for the same reason. And then they promised, while looking at each other’s wet eyes, that they’d never doubt their love again. In the world full of dependent variables, they promised they’d be each other’s independent variable.

Instead of spending two weeks being broken all by himself in his room, they spent two weeks traveling around Europe.

Instead of being an emotional break up song, ‘Ferris Wheel’ ended up being written as a song about a second chance, faith in love, and trust.

But when they were twenty-five, their story didn’t get to a Sunday, at the sixth day of May.

Because seven weeks before that, at eighteenth of March, on a Sunday as well, Chanyeol dies.

Because there really is no effort humans do can deny what’s already written on the books.

Chanyeol’s end was already settled.

Thus, Baekhyun is left, alone, in their apartment.

And then Baekhyun is angry. Baekhyun is in pain. Baekhyun is devastated. Baekhyun is crumbling down. Baekhyun is confused. Baekhyun can’t fathom anything. On the age where Chanyeol should’ve bloomed, when he was loving and being loved, why does he have to be taken away?

It’s natural for the world, but it’s a doom for him.

He wishes he could’ve saved Chanyeol. He wishes he could’ve pulled Chanyeol out of the streets. He wishes he could’ve protected Chanyeol from every single harm. He wishes he could’ve kept Chanyeol alive.

But in this universe, he gets to do that. He gets to do that, and still, he can’t be with Chanyeol.

In this universe, he wishes he was human. He wishes he was the one Chanyeol met at a music exhibit, who then got to know Chanyeol, whom Chanyeol fell in love with. He wishes he was the one who loved Chanyeol.

But he forgets that if he was human, then no one would’ve saved Chanyeol from the crash.

Maybe, just maybe,

they were never meant to be together.

That’s why in this universe, he gets to save Chanyeol but couldn’t be with him and has to leave him in the end, while in another universe he got to be with Chanyeol but can’t save him.

They were never meant to be together.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, this story isn’t supposed to make sense.
> 
> To confuse you? Maybe.
> 
> _  - author _
> 
>  


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